A Tasteful Tag Sale

I got a message yesterday that my long-time friends, Becky & Andrew were having a tag sale today. As Becky put it, “What we are selling is stuff that Andrew brought over from Scotland - Leather hat cases, wooden boxes, toys, train set…” How in the world could I resist that?

So this morning, after I baked this (an Apple/Currant/Raisin Danish):I hopped in the car and drove down to the waterfront neighbourhood where Becky has had her architectural practice. The building she owns is from the 1800s and was originally a stable/carriage house. She’s converted part of it for offices and uses the other part for parking and storage.  Before Becky bought the building, it was used as studio space for all of John Waters’ early films.

When I arrived to find a mannequin seated on a sofa on the sidewalk, I knew I was in the right spot. There were loads of fun items, and as soon as I spotted this, I had to call David Wiesand and tell him to come ASAP, which, of course, he did! Who can resist a top hat or a bowler hat, in their original custom leather boxes?  Here’s the bowler box empty, and with the hat in it. And the top hat box with the hat snug inside it. This is the top hat Andrew’s father wore at one of the Royal Garden Parties in the 1930’s. It still has the original invitation ticket tucked in the bottom of the box.I love seeing the old travel stickers on the luggage, and it’s fun to imagine all of the train trips this family took.

Another delightful find was the amazing linings that the old leather cases hid inside,

and how well these leather bags have held up over the past 60-80 years!We had fun playing with some of Andrew’s old board games, card games, and tiddlywinks!

Okay, I know you want to know what I bought… Just a few little things.A little china baby, a spoon with a sphinx head and a tiny pencil sharpener advertising Virol, a malt and bone marrow extract for children.

I found a very interesting card game called “Contraband”, with cards and play money. Someone acts as the customs agent and the players try to sneak contraband between London and Paris. One of the contraband items is nylon stockings! I think it would be fun to frame the cards with the contraband showing and then one with the front of the card.

Becky and Andrew kindly gave me a huge driving map of the UK, which I will hang in my workroom, after I do a little work on it!

If you are interested in any of the items, which include lots of 78-rpm records, (look, the 99%)please e-mail Becky here.